Where to tour in Europe this summer?

[Moonlight]

Hi there fellow cyclists!

A friend and I are keen to expand our cycle touring experiences after a fairly successful tour around Wales last year :-). We wish to tour again this year and I was wondering what advice you guys might have regarding location.

We have 2-3 weeks to play with between July and September this summer. We both own mid-range touring bikes (and know how to repair/maintain them). We have mid range panniers/equipment etc. and are prepared to travel fairly light. Both of us are students so our budget is fairly tight (£200-500 each including flights etc.)

We are both quite fit and this tour for us will be about having a great time and doing lots of exercise :-).

So far we have the following ideas:

1. Fly to Turkey and cycle across the mountains while wild camping.
Pros: cheap food, beautiful scenery, easy to wild camp, friendly locals
Cons: we'd need to fly, my Turkish is averagely crap, it could be very hot even in the mountains, bad condition roads?

2. Get the train to Scotland and explore the highlands.
Pros: no need to fly, I speak Scottish , can legally wild camp on highland now :-).
Cons: expensive food, expensive train, rain?

3. Ferry over to France and head south.
Pros: easy to bust out lots of miles, no flying, good roads.
Cons: expensive ferries, expensive food, not very adventurous maybe?

I'm really keen to hear any ideas! and thank you so much in advanced for your opinions (whatever they may be) .

Tom

 

[snorri]

Ref option 2.
You might consider train to Glasgow, then cycle north up the west coast to Oban, ferry to Castlebay. Then make your way north through the Islands to Stornoway and ferry to Ullapool. From there cycle to Garve , train to Inverness and train south, or if time permits cycle towards Perth and get a train south from there. There are loads of variations within that framework, but it's a starter for you! Rail fares are not so bad if you book in advance, but don't forget to book your bikes at the same time.r
Option 3
Cycling south into France did nothing for me, but I know France is popular with many on here. Perhaps consider a round tour, take a ferry Harwich to Esbjerg, then cycle south towards Hamburg, Groningen, Amsterdam , Hook of Holland for ferry back to the UK, or if time permits, continue along to Dunkirk or Calais for the ferry.

 

[mark barker]

If you're flexible with ferry times you can cross the channel for very little, but it might involve hanging around Dover for a few hours. Once you're on mainland Europe you've got almost endless choices and you'd not need to worry about major planning, just go with the flow.

 

[Brains]

I'd go with option 3.

You have not said your start point. But assuming not within 100 miles of Dover then train it down to there, over on't boot.
Then I'd head for Paris also on the train. As Northern France is frankly a bit flat and boring, and Paris would take you 3 days on a bike

From Paris the world (well France) is your Oyster.
Look to the Loire (Orleans, flat cycling, stunning castles, campsites everwhere, fine wine)
and/or Head down the west coast Nantes to Bordeaux to Carcasonne, Canal du midi.
Or Head down the Rhone to L'Orange and Avignon

Another crossing option could be Newhaven/Dieppe. Its longer and more expensive but may be cheaper if you tally up the total home to Paris cost via various routes.
It also has the advantage of the 'route verte' a cycle lane that runs from London to Newhaven (very bad) and then Dieppe to Paris (very good)

Take a look at the 'european bike express', get their brochure sent to you.
It might possibly cost slightly more than trains/ferries/trains but it is soooooo much less hassle well worth the cost.
My first Frence tour in a very similar situation to yours we used European Bike Express. got off a l'Orange and cycled to Saintes over two weeks for the lift home

My major tip to make the budget work is do not eat in resturants, cook for yourselves. Do not drink in bars, one beer will cost you more than a whole night of supermarket beers.

 

[frank9755]

Me too.

One evening last May, I started from London and rode to Newhaven, hopped on the ferry and headed South. The scenery got better and better, the weather warmer, while the food and the campsites were great all the way.

When I got to Montpellier 10 days later, I had a paddle in the Med and got a plane home. Spent less than £500 including ferry and plane without trying to economise.

Don't go to Paris, or any other big city. The French are great at small towns and villages. I don't think I saw one that wasn't beautiful.

 

[mark]

Regarding option 2: There are some ridiculously cheap fares on the London Euston - Edinburgh sleeper train (Caledonian Sleeper), as low as £19 if you book far enough ahead and pick the right day. I think you can get cheap fares to other cities as well, check the Scotrail website. I was able to reserve a spot for my bicycle by phone (toll-free from the US, no less!), which was nice. The Highlands and the outer Hebrides islands are great places to cycle.

Option 3: Rural France (south of Paris) is a great place to cycle, just like Frank9755 said.

Get the Lonely Planet cycling guides to France and the UK, it's got some great ideas on where to cycle even if you don't follow their routes exactly.

 

[roundisland]

I'm booked on the Bike Express 21st May picking me up in Northampton and dropping me in Perpignan cost £210 return, I think pretty good value.

 

[Oneleggedtoad]

I got the Ferry from Portsmouth down to Bilbao/Spain last year and cycled up the West coast of France. It was easy, loads of campsites and the first half was flat as a pancake. I spent about 10 days doing it but this year I'm gonna take 3 weeks off and cycle a differant route south to Bilbao taking in more of Central France. I know its not very adventurous but I loved it over there.

For something Cheap and adventurous you could try Morocco, Easy Jet fly there so book now and get flight for pennies. I know theres some stuff on CrazyGuy if you want ideas for routes....

 

[Ticktockmy]

Ref option 2.
You might consider train to Glasgow, then cycle north up the west coast to Oban, ferry to Castlebay. Then make your way north through the Islands to Stornoway and ferry to Ullapool. From there cycle to Garve , train to Inverness and train south, or if time permits cycle towards Perth and get a train south from there. There are loads of variations within that framework, but it's a starter for you! Rail fares are not so bad if you book in advance, but don't forget to book your bikes at the same time.r
Option 3
Cycling south into France did nothing for me, but I know France is popular with many on here. Perhaps consider a round tour, take a ferry Harwich to Esbjerg, then cycle south towards Hamburg, Groningen, Amsterdam , Hook of Holland for ferry back to the UK, or if time permits, continue along to Dunkirk or Calais for the ferry.

It can be a bugger getting a train from Garve, as cycles have to be booked, and so You have to be sure to be at the station on time and on the day you booked. I think once you are at Garve you might as well cycle on to Inverness, as it a nice ride ending up cycling alongside the Beauly Firth.

I was going to suggest cycling the outer Hebridges, from Castley Bay to Butt of Lewis.

my blog here gives a details of my trip in 2009.

http://gkyuk.multipl..._24th_June_2009

 

[jay clock]

France. I would always go abroad. Everything is different from the usual routine. You go in a Tescos somehwere else in the UK you will end up buying the same food as at home. My one tour in the UK (of about 10) was the only one I cut short.

 

[Brains]

I got the Ferry from Portsmouth down to Bilbao/Spain last year and cycled up the West coast of France
this year I'm gonna take 3 weeks off and cycle a differant route south to Bilbao taking in more of Central France. I know its not very adventurous but I loved it over there.

Check the Ferry is still running - last I heard is they are not going to run it this summer due to costs

 

[andym]

Britanny and Normandy (sailing to/from St Malo, Roscoff or Caen) are well worth considering. No the ferries aren't cheap, but don't forget to factor in the costs of taking your bike by plane - often more than the cost of the ticket.

Take a look at the 'european bike express', get their brochure sent to you.
It might possibly cost slightly more than trains/ferries/trains but it is soooooo much less hassle well worth the cost.

Well maybe. I can see that Bike Express saves you the hassle of putting your bike in a bag and/or maybe having to get across Paris, and i can see that if you live outside of London and within striking distance of one of their pickup points, then it does have its advantages, but that comes at a cost: how many hours do you have to spend on the coach? Ditto EBE compared to flying.

Depending on where you live and where you're going, the train can be a pretty reasonable alternative: eg coming back from Marseille the year before last I got on the train at 8am, made an easy change at Lille and was in London by (IIRC) 3.30ish.

 

[hubbike]

Scotland gets my vote

 

[Moonlight]

Thank you so much for all your replies! Some great advice here, the sound of the bicycle express sounds particularly awesome.

 

[Bodhbh]

Have a look at BA flights from Heathrow. The bike is free as long it's the only hold luggage (not too hard to arrange). Last year you could get flights to Munich/Frankfurt/Zurich/Prague for about 55-75 quid each way. These are just the ones i remember checking, as I was after going thru Germany. It might be possible to do a route between, or take the ferry over to Dunkirk and cycle down to Munich or something. The economics probably depends where you are in the UK, I looked at flying from Manchester and the flights were all about 40quid dearer.

In theory you can get up to the Highlands dirt cheap on the sleeper. Maybe I'm just too slow but I've not yet been able to get a return ticket + bike reservations for under 100 quid. The cheap tickets really get snapped up extremely fast.